Two Moab men were arreted Dec. 17 after one of them fired a shotgun near residences in a mobile home park on Moab’s west side.

Neighbors contacted police at about 10:27 p.m. to report that shots had been fired. On arrival, police learned that one of the men had allegedly forced his way into a mobile home, holding the shotgun to the resident’s face, while searching for another person who lives in the mobile home park. Other residents reported hearing shotgun pellets hit the roofs of nearby trailers, according to the report from the Moab City Police Department.

Police noted that a sign had been shot full of holes near the trailer park’s exit, which was located very close to several mobile homes.

One man, 20 was arrested and charged with criminal trespass, possession of a firearm while intoxicated, illegal consumption of alcohol, intoxication, and disorderly conduct, according to the report. Witnesses told police that the 20-year-old man was seen carrying the gun but was not the person who fired the shots, according to the report.

The other man, 48, was identified by witnesses as the person who fired the shotgun. When police arrived at the scene, the officer reported finding the man lying in the road, unconscious, holding a vodka bottle. He was charged with firing a firearm within 600 feet of a residence, possession of a dangerous weapon while intoxicated, intoxication, and disorderly conduct.

Police investigate suspicious injury

Moab City Police on Dec. 16 responded to a call from Allen Memorial Hospital workers, who reported that a woman seeking treatment for a head injury had said three small children were alone at her home and she needed help.

The officer who arrived at the hospital found that the woman, 36, had already been transported to St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction for treatment of a head injury, according to the report from the Moab City Police Department. Police knocked on doors in several mobile home parks in the area the woman listed as her place of residence but were unable to locate anyone who knew the woman or had information about the children, according to the police report.

Police later learned that the Grand County Sheriff’s Office was investigating a rollover accident on Kane Creek Boulevard. In that incident, the vehicle had been found abandoned after the accident but a significant amount of blood was found inside the vehicle on the driver’s side and deputies reported evidence that the driver had struck his or her head on the windshield during impact. Police determined that the injured woman at the hospital and the driver of the vehicle were the same person, although the woman had allegedly given false information about her identity at the hospital.

Police investigate report of squatters

A Moab man contacted police Dec. 16 to report that he believed homeless people had been living in two vacant rental properties the man owned on Moab’s east side.

Police officers went to the two homes to investigate. At one residence they found the front door unlocked and garbage, bags and other items including a house plant were inside the building, according to a report from the Moab City Police Department. At the second residence, officers found the door to the home locked, but a storage shed was unlocked. The shed contained clothing and toys for children, according to the report.

Police contacted the homeowner and reported they had locked all the doors at both residences to keep out intruders, according to the report.

Inmate reports break-in

A Grand County Jail inmate told jail deputies Dec. 18 that he had learned his home had been burglarized while he was incarcerated, according to a report from the Moab City Police Department. The man said a friend had called him to say the home had been broken into and guns were stolen from the residence, according to the report.

He said he did not know what other items might be missing, but he knew that a Black Powder .44 handgun was stolen, according to the report.

Police went to the home to secure it and told the man that after he is released from jail he should write down a complete inventory of everything that had been stolen and file it with police.

Vehicle vandalized

A Moab man contacted police Dec. 19 to report that his vehicle had been vandalized while he was inside a local gas station paying for his gas purchase. The man said when he came back outside he found that someone had written words and drawn vulgar images on the windows of his vehicle, according to a report from the Moab City Police Department.

The officer who investigated reported that the graffiti appeared to have been written with a window marking-pen, and could be washed off, according to the report.

Hit and run reported

A Moab woman contacted police Dec. 16 to report that her vehicle had been damaged in a hit-and-run incident. The woman told police that employees at a local convenience store pointed out the damage to her while she was at the store, according to the report.

She said she had cleaned snow off the vehicle that morning and the damage, which was to the passenger side and the rear bumper, was not there earlier in the morning.

Man reports threats

A Moab man contacted police Dec. 20 to report that he was being harrassed by a man who, he said, had stolen his cell phone then called him from the phone to threaten him, according to a report from the Moab City Police Department.

The man first told police he wanted them to arrest the person who he said was threatening him, and when police said they needed more information the man refused to give a statement to police, according to the report.

The man who had the phone turned it in at police headquarters later in the day, telling police the other man had left it underneath his vehicle, according to the report.

Tires slashed at GCHS

Moab police on Dec. 22 investigated a report of tires being slashed on a vehicle while it was parked at Grand County High School.

According to a report from the Moab City Police Department, a man reported that two tires, valued at $576, were flattened while the vehicle was parked there overnight.

Police noted that each tire appeared to have a cut about one-inch in width in the wall of the tire.

Man arrested for intoxication

A Moab man was arrested Dec. 23 after police investigated a call for medical help involving an unconscious man in a field near Williams Way.

The man, 56, was found passed out on the ground, according to a report from the Moab City Police Department. He was taken to Allen Memorial Hospital for a health check and while he was there he attempted to leave the facility, according to the report.

The man was taken into police custody at the hospital and booked into Grand County Jail on charges of intoxication.

UHP finds cocaine hidden in truck

Two kilos of cocaine were found Dec. 16 in a pickup truck during a routine traffic stop on Interstate 70 near Green River. A Utah Highway Patrol trooper discovered the drugs hidden in the frame rails of the truck after he pulled over the vehicle for a traffic violation, a report from the UHP stated.

UHP investigators said the cocaine was being transported to the East Coast for distributing, according to the report.

The driver of the vehicle was arrested for possession of an illegal substance with intent to distribute. He was booked into Grand County Jail.

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